2021 West Side Story: A triumph and a failure

[stubbsonic]

I finally watched/listened to the 2021 version of West Side Story.

The big triumph was hearing a beautifully recorded representation of that music, rendered in a loving & respectful way by the orchestra, conductor, recording staff, etc. I really wanted it to be the new standard for how that music (which I have long loved) is heard by everyone.

I thought the slight adjustments to the story & characters struck a nice balance of cultural awareness while preserving (for the most part) the basic feel of the show. Riff was a much less "light-hearded" character, but his anger was given some context.

The big failure was the abuse of vocal tuning throughout. I won't guess how tuning vocals 100% --and stripping them of all humanity to where they sound like static sawtooth waves-- ever passed muster by the production team or director. Suddenly the "tragedy" of West Side Story isn't the death and all that, it's the f'ng over-tuned vocals. Erg.

[cuttime]

Wow. I think you just killed it for me. I was looking forward to seeing it.

[mikehalloran]

Don't see a show on Broadway anymore...

Perhaps Hamilton… the male leads, for the most part, were not Autotuned because of the rap but every background vocal and the female ballads were.

[stubbsonic]

Wow, even live?! Eeesh!!!

[mikehalloran]

Wow, even live?! Eeesh!!!

See the roadshow version of any Broadway show.

[stubbsonic]

In the big picture, I don't really take issue with tuning vocals as an ethical matter. Done moderately and tastefully, it is a reasonable enhancement (not unlike a compressor, or reverb) that can make the music sound more polished, and solve minor problems.

Abusing vocal tuning to this extreme degree should have been avoided. I think it is possible that some mix engineers or producers, even experienced ones, don't hear this over-tuned thing in as glaring a way as I do.

I have a friend who is a massively talented and experienced musician. He mixes his own music and does very well. His mixes have a VERY polished production quality. However, I've noticed he can go pretty overboard with vocal tuning and doesn't hear it as a problem in the same way I do. Perhaps it is more of a subjective reaction than it seems like it should be (remember "The Dress"?)

[stubbsonic]

Wow. I think you just killed it for me. I was looking forward to seeing it.

You should still see/hear it, if for no other reason, than to hear the amazing bass parts that were lost in the original film. The orchestra is well recorded and sounds fantastic. You can make a game of hearing the vocals and every time you hear the vocals flatline, you take a sip of the beverage of your choice.

[joelfriedman]

I agree that it’s wondrous to hear the full orchestra in a modern recording that isn’t so “Wagnerian” like Lenny’s ‘85 recording. I also didn’t mind Kushner’s plot “adaptations, hell I think Sondheim may have ok’d it. It was Ansel Elgort who drove me batty. Terrible choice, teen girls be dammed. So lifeless as an actor and a singer. Ugh. The tinge of harassment of a 17 year old floating around him didn’t help.


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[stubbsonic]

I agree, Elgort's Tony was kind of cold, stiff, almost stoic, especially compared to Beymer's 1961 portrayal of Tony who was a more playful, warm, and likable character..

I wasn't aware of the sexual assault accusations. I gather the accusations didn't occur until 2020 (for an incident in 2014). The filming would have been completed by this time.